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Ozymandias - Percy Bysshe Shelley

2.
Structure
• It is a sonnet (14 lines).
• It has an octave and a sestet, each
with their own themes and line 9
contains a turn in the poem.
• It is a Pertrachan (Italian) sonnet.

3.
Who was Ozymandias?
• Rameses II (an Egyptian pharoah) was known as Ozymandias. He
lived from 1279 to 1213 B.C.E. and was some 96 years old when
he died. He had 200 wives and concubines, with 96 sons and 60
daughters.
• His statue is at the site of the ancient Egyptian capital, Thebes
(about 420 miles south of Cairo).
• The statue of Ozymandias was originally fifty-seven feet high.
An inscription on it told onlookers, "I am Ozymandias, king of
kings," and challenged them to perform greater works than he
did.

4.
THE OCTAVE
• This refers to the first 8 lines of the poem.
I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
Theme:
•The destruction that
time visits on anything
and everything on this
earth.
•The octave describes what the traveler saw: the ruins of the ancient statue of
Ozymandias.
•Characteristics of the statue, the frown, the outstretched hand, etc.
This in turn tells us what the pharaoh was like.

5.
I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
3. Ancient
land of Egypt.
1. Persona/speaker
2. The whole
story is based
upon what the
traveler
apparently told
the poet.
4. The legs were
very, very big but
they were detached
from the trunk or
body of the statue.
5. Referring
to a statue.

6.
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
1. Setting: where the
statue can be found.
2. The stone face from the
statue of Ramesses was lying
in the desert sand. As the
wind of ages blew, the sand
covered the statue further
and further, making it seem
as if it was sinking into the
sand.
4. The face of
the pharaoh.
3. Broken, in
pieces.

7.
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
5. Very accurate
in the capturing
of the pharaoh’s
character in the
statue.
2. ‘Wrinkled, sneer,
cold command and
mocked’ shows us
the pharaohs
attitude to the
people
1. Alliteration of
the harsh ‘c’
sound reinforces
that the pharaoh
was unfeeling.
6. Did still
take care of
the people.
4. Stone statues. The
facial features have
been “stamped” or
sculpted into the
stone.

8.
THE SESTET
• REFERS TO THE LAST 6 LINES OF THE POEM:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Theme: The foolishness
of Man – Ozymandias
believed in his own
greatness to the extent
that he felt he would
defy Time by building
such a massive statue
•The sestet makes the point that nothing is left of all the former glory, other than
disjointed parts, now in the middle of a desert.
• The poet uses irony to express the uselessness of (abused) power, pride and arrogance.

9.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
2. The pharaoh, in his arrogance, believed
that he was the greatest of rulers - the
"king of kings". His works - public
buildings, statues, etc -- were so great
that everyone would cower in fear when
they observed them. The irony, however,
is that these great works have collapsed
and lie in ruins everywhere, and few can
even remember who Rameses II was.
1. Pedestal the base of a
statue, the support upon
which the statue rests.
3. The pharaohs enemies.
As soon they saw these
statues and monuments,
they would know that
such great works would
indicate a truly powerful
ruler. They would then
fear what he would do to
them and their armies.

10.
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
1. There are no “works” for
anyone to look at – there is
just desert and a statue
that is in pieces.
2. Even the
greatest rulers
and tyrants
are subject to
time’s effects
of decay. Time
does not pick
and choose who
it affects and
who it doesn’t.
5. Alliteration links key
words/ideas related to the
desolation of the scene. ‘l’ and ‘s’
sounds
3. Very, very big.
However, the
effects of time
have wrecked the
last symbol of the
pharaoh’s power –
the statue.
4. The desert stretches as far as
the eye can see. It is so vast that
it has no boundaries ("boundless")
and nothing grows there ("bare").

11.
OVERVIEW
• The poet attempts to convey the message that
no matter how great we think we are – we all
ultimately succumb (give in) to the power of
Time.
• Ozymandias believed he would be invincible
and would live on forever in his statues etc;
however this is not to be.